Johnson and Singh half-centuries keep Scorpions at bay at Providence

A 101-run fourth-wicket stand between Captain Leon Johnson and Vishual Singh have left the match between the Jamaica Scorpions and Guyana Jaguars interestingly poised at stumps on Day 2 of their West Indies Championship match at the Providence Stadium on Friday.

Johnson eventually fell for 58 and Singh for 61 as the Jaguars ended the day on 203 for 5 still 155 runs behind the Scorpions’ first innings total with five wickets in hand.

The Jaguars were chasing 358 set by the Scorpions thanks mainly to a 108-run ninth-wicket partnership between Derval Green, who scored 86 and Dennis Bulli 33 and a 20-run stand between Green and Taylor.

Green was the last man out to the bowling of Romario Shepherd who finished with 2 for 69.

Resuming on 320 for 8, Bulli only managed to add three runs to his overnight total before he became Veerasammy Permaul’s third wicket of the innings. However, by then the Scorpions had added an additional 18 runs.

Jerome Taylor joined Green and they added an additional 20 valuable runs before Green gave Leon Johnson his third catch of the match and Romario Shepherd his second wicket.

The Jaguars got off to an inauspicious start losing the wickets of Tagenarine Chanderpaul (10), Chandrapaul Hemraj (4) and Sherfane Rutherford (31) with only 62 runs on the board.

However, just when it seemed the Jaguars were about the take a stranglehold on the match, Johnson and Singh blunted the Scorpions ‘ attack and patiently built a partnership of 101 runs. The stand took 281 balls but by then the Jaguars were firmly back in the game.

With the score at 163 for 3, Jermaine Blackwood broke the partnership when he had Johnson trapped lbw for 58. He took 158 balls to compile his runs and struck seven fours.

Singh went 11 overs later with the score at 187 when he gave a catch to Blackwood and gave Bulli his first wicket of the match.

That would be the last success for the Scorpions for the day as Christopher Barnell (22) and Raymon Reifer (5) have so far added 16 runs for the sixth wicket.

Taylor, Green, Bulli and Rovman Powell have a wicket each for the Scorpions.

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Prime Minister of Grenada Dr. Keith Mitchell has insisted that a change of structure should be the primary focus of the next Cricket West Indies (CWI) boss, following the announcement of a challenge to incumbent president Dave Cameron.

After four terms in charge of the regional body, Cameron will face a challenge from former Windies team manager Ricky Skerritt, when the organisation goes to the polls next month.

Mitchell, who has at times found himself in an adversarial relationship with regional cricket’s leadership team in recent years, however, believes very little will be different unless the new leader is willing to focus on decades-long structural deficiencies.

“30-50 years ago Governments were operating one way in terms of how they governed countries. They made you believe they could solve all your problems, ‘just vote for me’. That has changed dramatically, businesses had to change over the years and be more transparent,” Mitchell told the SportsMax Zone.

“Trade Unions had to also recognize that it was not about getting increases in salary but also getting productivity, it’s a competitive world. Similarly, sporting bodies cannot operate a 19 century, 20th-century system in the 21st century,” he added.

A 2015 CARICOM-commissioned Governance Report – authored by prominent regional academic and UWI Cave Hill principal Professor Eudine Barriteau – had called for the “immediate dissolution of the West Indies Cricket Board and the appointment of an Interim Board.”

“The chop and change of presidents in my view is not going to solve the problems that are plaguing West Indies cricket. The attitude and structure that we have in place and the transparency and accountability has to be a fundamental issue also.”